Monolithic MEMS

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In the highly competitive consumer market of inertial sensors, that will represent a market value of $4.33B in 2020, mCube has yet again proven its monolithic single-chip technology can deliver significant advancements in extending battery life and reducing sensor size. A perfect fit for the promising market of wearable devices requiring extremely optimized chips in terms of size and power consumption.Jean-Christophe EloyYole Développement

Most motion sensors available in today’s market are based on multi-chip technology developed in the 1980s. In this approach, the mechanical sensor (MEMS) and the drive electronics (IC) are manufactured in different facilities using different processing techniques. The two chips are tested separately and then wired together during packaging.

The disadvantages of this approach include the size and cost of two chips, the cost and capacity constraints of specialized MEMS fabrication and the performance limitations of interconnecting two separate chips into a single package.

mCube has developed a unique monolithic single-chip MEMS technology allowing for extremely cost-effective, high performance motion sensors. With the mCube approach, the MEMS sensors are fabricated directly on top of the IC electronics in a standard CMOS fabrication facility. Advantages of this monolithic approach include smaller size, higher performance, lower cost, and the ability to integrate multiple sensors onto a single-chip.